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Read a review of Lao Shay Youth Hostel, Blue Moon Valley, Jinugu Village, Shangri-La, Yunnan, China.
Read a review of Mama Naxi's Guesthouse, NO.78,WenHua alley,WuYi Street, Ancient Town, Lijiang, China.
Read a review of Mama Naxi's No. 2 Guesthouse, 88#Fu An Alley Ren Min Road, Dali, Yunnan, China.
Hello, After four months in China, today's the day we leave! For Laos - or 'Lay-os"! All being well, and the border crossing having gone smoothly (it'd be a first...), we'll be in Luang Nam Tha in the north of the country by the time you read this.
Hello!
So, we're in Jinghong. The Plan, which was a great one to be fair, didn't quite come off as we had hoped, though only just. We made it to the rice terraces in Yuanyang for a rather misty sunrise - spectacular views and several thousand photos taken though and, three buses later got to Jianshui, from where we'd hoped to take a sleeper bus to Jinghong. By the time we arrived, however, there was only one ticket left! Blame lies solely with the bus conductress (a word?) who wasted time tring to rip us off and then bullying other passengers, one of whom was a mother with an ill daughter, potentially trying to go to the doctors. We got a bus back toKunming, of all places, again, though only stayed twenty minutes at the south bus staion. Anna sprinted to the ticket desk and got us onto the last sleeper bus to Jinghong. It actually arrived here two hours before The Plan would have had us here, so I shall be sending both The Plans to Lonely Planet for inclusion in their next editions. The only downside of The New Plan is that it had us here two hours before any of the traveller cafes (with bacon breakfasts) opened but we'e fed and watered now, yet is depserate need of showers having spent two consecutive nights on sleeper buses. We'd hoped to do a cruise down the Mekong to Thailand -shock addition - between Laos and Burma (!!) but they don't start until next week, so we'll be heading for the Laos land border tomorrow, I think, and hopefully catching a junk between Huay Xai and Luang Phanbang. I'm feeling very grubby, but having a great adventure, falling in love with this part of China. Hi,
So, here's the plan. I say "the plan", it's a plan, a plan that nobody seems to have thought of and written up on the Internet or in the guide books. If the bus times are what we think they are, we're aiming for the following: Hello,
So, we went to the Vietnamese Consulate at the Kunming World Trade Centre (not a lot going on there) this morning. Touch wood, they'll be ready for collection on Friday between 5-5.30pm. That's great, but is a bit of a pain when deciding what to do next. The only available bus after then to the rice terraces in Yuanyang is at 7.30pm, arriving at 2.30am the next day. We want to be there for at least a sunrise or a sunset, when the terraces look their best, but it'll make for a really, really long day. Alternatively, we could stay another night in Kunming and go the next day, but then that's more expensive and we lose a day.Even though we've a month - give or take a few days - before we have to be back at work, I'm not sure we'll be able to cram in everywhere we want to go and do each place justice and make it all the way to Hainan. At this point, I think it's more likely that we'll be getting the train from Hanoi to Zhengzhou. Still, having a fantastic time AND we're going to see Narnia in 3D tonight! |
Photo Blog hereThere's a selection of photos from my time in China, and travels over Spring Festival, on these pages. Categories
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